HOLLIDAYSBURG — Several candidates may be under review for a vacant Blair County judicial seat, to be appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate.

As of Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office has not yet released the names of the applicants or their applications for the seat vacated by Judge Daniel J. Milliron at the end of December.

The Altoona Mirror made the request to the governor’s office after Monday’s deadline for applications passed, based on a 2021 Commonwealth Court ruling concluding that applications for judicial posts shouldn’t be kept secret.

Wolf’s communications office has indicated that the Mirror’s request is under review.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, said Friday that she met with seven potential judicial candidates who spoke of applying for the vacant post.

Democratic Commissioner Laura Burke said she met with five or six of the interested judicial candidates.

Neither Ward nor Burke revealed the names of the candidates they spoke with, and Ward indicated that it’s possible that not all of the candidates approached her.

Burke, who is the liaison commissioner to the county court system, said there is agreement among county leaders that the county needs an interim judge.

Since Milliron retired from full-time judicial status at the end of December, he’s been serving the county on a part-time basis as a senior judge.

The other full-time judges — Elizabeth Doyle, Wade A. Kagarise, Timothy M. Sullivan and Jackie A. Bernard — are meanwhile trying to manage a backlog of cases that increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sullivan has also announced plans to retire early, at the end of 2022.

Burke told the Mirror that so far, she hasn’t been contacted by the governor’s office concerning any of the candidates.

In prior years, it was common for a governor to work with a committee of local leaders who would make a recommendation, typically someone of the same political party. While Wolf is a Democrat, the Senate is made up of 28 Republicans, 20 Democrats, one Independent and one vacancy.

Burke said she understands that the powers to be have agreed to a “package deal” in which all the recommended interim judges should be included in one bill and that the bill would need two-thirds approval by the Senate.

In addition to taking applications for the Blair County vacant judicial post, the governor’s office also took applications for judicial post vacancies in Allegheny, Chester, Columbia-Montour, Lancaster, Lycoming, Philadelphia and Schuylkill counties.

In addition, applications could be submitted for vacant magisterial district judge seats, including two in Cambria County.

Ward said she’s not sure as to when a decision will be made but expects it will come “around the end of June.”

“It is an interesting process,” she said.

In compliance with a 2021 Commonwealth Court ruling, Wolf’s office, in November, released 17 applications filed by candidates seeking a seat on Commonwealth Court in 2019. Wolf filled that vacancy in 2019 by appointing Republican lawyer Drew Compton and initially declined to release the names of the other applicants, in line with prior practice.

Commonwealth Court Judge P. Kevin Brobson, who wrote the court’s opinion ordering the release of the applications, said the public is entitled to know who sought consideration for a seat to be filled by gubernatorial appointment, just as they would know the names of the candidates on a ballot.

Paula Knudsen Burke, an attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the Mirror’s request for the names of the applicants and supporting details is valid. She speculated that the delay may involve time for removal of information exempt from public disclosure.

“The bottom line is that the names should be readily available,” the media attorney said. “And the applications, with redactions to address privacy concerns, should follow.”

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens can be reached at 814-946-7456.